Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting us today.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers represents the upstream oil and natural gas industry in Canada. Our association has more than 80 members, whose production activities are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. We are here today to talk about a major opportunity for Canada. According to the International Energy Agency, a part of the OECD, global energy demand is on the rise. People around the world will need more energy in all its forms, in order to improve their standard of living. The agency also predicts that the increase will be like adding another country the size of China to our planet by 2040. Oil and natural gas will supply more than half of this demand in 2040.
Canada has oil and natural gas resources of superior quality; we are a leader in environmental matters; we are committed to social inclusion, and we have one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world. For those reasons, we believe that Canada can and should become the global supplier of choice to meet the increasing demand for energy in the future.
Why is this a good thing for Canada?
Today, our industry employs over 500,000 Canadians. It contributes more than $109 billion to the GDP. It provides, on average, $12 billion per year to the government, and it will do more. In terms of inclusion, indigenous people represent 6% of our industry’s labour force, while the national average is 4%. In 2016, oil sands companies purchased $3.3 billion in goods and services from almost 400 companies owned by indigenous individuals or communities.
We have invested more than $1.4 billion in hundreds of green technologies, in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions from our activities at the same time as we increase production. These technologies will also result in reducing not only the impact of our industry but also the impact of other sectors in Canada and around the world. We are a vital part of clean technology solutions in Canada. However, for Canada to be able to seize this opportunity, it is essential that the federal government take measures to address Canada’s lack of competitiveness in relation to other countries.
I will now make way for my colleague Mr. Brunnen, so that he can explain what we mean by that.